Hidden Gems of North-Central Connecticut

FARMINGTON, CT — Our latest installment of this periodic series on Patch sites in north-central Connecticut, highlighting "hidden gems" throughout the region, features gorgeous photos by Caryn B. Davis Photography which highlights a truly remarkable National Historic Landmark in Farmington: the Hill-Stead Museum.

Situated on 152 beautifully-manicured acres at 35 Mountain Road, the Hill-Stead Museum was completed in 1901. A Colonial Revival house, it was built as a country estate for wealthy industrialist and art collector Alfred Atmore Pope. Prior to her passing in 1946, Pope's daughter, Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the country's first female architects, directed that both the house and its contents remain intact, not to be moved, lent, or sold.

In addition to the Pope-Riddle house - a sprawling 33,000 square foot mansion - other buildings on the grounds include an 18th-century farm house, a carriage garage with an Arts and Crafts theater, a barn and other farm buildings.

Visitors are welcome to tour 19 rooms of the mansion, which is furnished with paintings and prints by fabled artists such as Claude Monet and James McNeill Whistler. The expansive grounds include walkways, a pond and the famous Sunken Garden, which occupies nearly an acre and boasts a summer house, brick walkways and a stone sundial. The venue hosts one of the longest running poetry festivals in the country, the Sunken Garden Festival.

The Hill-Stead Museum is open to the public for tours, seasonal celebrations and activities. It may also be reserved for indoor and outdoor weddings and special events. More information may be obtained by visiting www.hillstead.org.

This series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

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